Artist creates a tiny replica of Charles' Crown

EXCLUSIVE: Artist creates incredible replica of Charles’ Crown that is so small it fits inside eye of a needle

  • Dr Willard Wigan, 65, created the microscopic pieces of art after 600 hours
  • READ MORE: Artist create micro-sculptures that sit INSIDE the eyes of needles

An artist has paid tribute to the King Charles by making a minute replica of St Edward’s Crown… and placing it in the eye of a needle.

Dr Willard Wigan, 65, who was awarded an MBE by the then Prince of Wales in 2007 for services to art, completed the unique piece after 600 painstaking hours.

The work is an incredible detailed replica of St Edward’s Crown made in 1661 for the coronation of Charles II and which will be used in Saturday’s solemn ceremony.

Mr Wigan told MailOnline that making the work was the ‘equivalent of performing heart surgery on an ant’ as it required a steady hand and the use of tiny precision instruments.

To paint the grain of sand he used one of his eyelashes and the edging at the bottom of the sculpture representing the fur of the crown is a tiny fibre from his shirt.

Dr Willard Wigan has paid tribute to the King Charles by making a minute replica of St Edward’s Crown

Dr Willard Wigan (pictured), 65, completed the unique piece after 600 painstaking hours

READ MORE: Small is beautiful: Artist create micro-sculptures that sit INSIDE the eyes of needles 

The tiny sculpture which has fragments of gold and diamond worked into it is only visible through a microscope and is mounted in the eye of a 24 carat gold needle.

It is not much bugger than a full stop in a newspaper and Mr Wigan even had to hold his breathe and slow his heart rate down to complete the sculpture as the slightest movement could have been disastrous.

He used specially adapted hypodermic needles and acupuncture needles to sculpt the sand and flakes of diamond and gold into the right shape.

Mr Wigan told MailOnline: ‘I had to work through the night and into the early hours of the morning when there are less vibrations and air disturbances.

‘It really is quite a challenge and I was working over six weeks before I finished it and at times I didn’t even eat in case of any false moves.

‘The grain of sand has slivers of diamonds and gold in it and I painted it using one of my eyelashes and that shows you the level of microscopic detail.’

Mr Wigan made a similar sculpture for the late Queen Elizabeth and presented it to her for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and she was delighted with it.

Mr Wigan said: ‘I later received a message from Her Majesty thanking me for the work and she said she had never been given something so small that meant so much to her and that was a real honour.

‘That’s what inspired me to make something for King Charles coronation and I hope he gets a chance to see this but I won’t be sending it to him.

‘This one is for the people of Britain to look at and when they see it through a microscope I want to hear them draw their breath and be amazed as I hope Her Majesty was.’

To commemorate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year, Mr Wigan created a model of the Queen’s Coronation Carriage which also fit inside the eye of a needle

Pictured is a tiny model of Queen Elizabeth II a young woman which fits inside the eye of a needle

Mr Wigan, who is from Birmingham, has been an artist for more than 40 years, and has made dozens of tiny sculptures that can only be seen through a microscope.

He was diagnosed with autism and dyslexia while he was at school and told he would never achieve anything in life by a teacher.

Mr Wigan, who has also made microscopic sculptures of Robin Hood, Albert Einstein and Jesus and the Twelve apostles at the Last Supper, added:’I was underestimated and looked down upon when I was younger so this is a form of defence system for me which says just because I’m different doesn’t mean I can’t offer anything.’

Mr Wigan’s work is currently on display at a free exhibition in Nottingham’s Wollaton Hall in a show called ‘Miniature Masterpieces’.

Mr Wigan has achieved two world records for the smallest handmade sculptures.

His first record, back in 2013, was for a minuscule 24-carat gold motorbike.

He then went on to break his own record in 2017 by sculpting a human embryo from a carpet fibre.

According to Guinness World Records, the sculpture measured 0.05388 mm (53.88 microns) wide and was placed inside a hollowed-out strand of Wigan’s own beard hair.

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